On a day of hot heads and high emotion, Carlos Alcaraz proved once again to be a master of escapology in the longest match at Queen’s Club for 34 years. With temperatures hovering over 30C on Andy Murray Arena, the Spaniard was 4-2 down in the final set, having lost four games in a row. To add to his sense of peril and woe, his serve was also misfiring and he had just hit his 50th unforced error. Yet he found a way – just as he had during the French Open final earlier this month.
A few minutes – and a series of inspired winners – later Alcaraz was shaking hands with his compatriot Jaume Munar having won 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-5 in an epic that lasted a little under three hours and 30 minutes. It was the longest match at Queen’s Club since MaliVai Washington faced Mark Keil in 1991, with the second set alone taking an hour and 42 minutes. As Alcaraz pithily wrote on the BBC TV courtside camera: “Were we on clay?”
